Abia gov sacked, Otti of APGA returned as gov

An Appeal Court has upturned the Abia State governorship election tribunal judgement which upheld the election of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.

Alex Oti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has been declared duly elected governor of the state.

The court in its ruling on Thursday ordered the swearing in of Otti, as governor of Abia State and asked Mr Ikpeazu of the PDP to vacate the office.

The five-member panel, headed by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye, annulled the election on the grounds of substantial non-compliance with the electoral law.

Delivering judgment in an appeal filed by Otti, the court said that the APGA candidate scored 164, 444 valid votes to defeat Ikpeazu who scored 114, 444 votes.

The court declared that Otti was the winner of the April 11 and April 25 supplementary elections in Abia State.

Omoleye said that the cancellation of the elections held in three LGAs of Obingwa, Osisioma Ngwa and Isiala Ngwa by the returning officers after the results were uploaded to INEC was wrong.

“In the Electoral Act, the Returning Officer has the right to only declare results of elections and not to cancel elections.

“This panel discovered that the earlier results uploaded to INEC headquarters correspond with the correct valid registered voters in the three LGAs, while that awarded to the respondent, shows over voting and therefore null and void.”

Read also: Delta Governorship: Again, Ogboru loses to Okowa

The appellate court maintained that the lower tribunal erred by not handling all the issues raised.

After nullifying the election, the court insisted that there was no need to call for re-run because the results of the April 11 and 25 polls clearly present Otti as the genuine winner of the exercise.

The court therefore, directed INEC to issue Certificate of Return to Otti and swear him in as winner of the election.

In his reaction to the judgment, Mr Oracle Nwali, a lawyer in Otti’s legal team, described the victory as “an end of the year gift to APGA,” saying Otti would not disappoint Abia people.

On his part, Mr. Charles Esonu, the PDP scribe in Abia, said that party and its candidate would study the judgment and decide on the next line of action.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now